


Of wolf and men

by sasha_bo



Series: Starset [2]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future, Dragon Stiles Stilinski, M/M, Mythical Beings & Creatures
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-12
Updated: 2017-01-28
Packaged: 2018-04-04 03:13:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4123648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sasha_bo/pseuds/sasha_bo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Derek accepts that – as a basic para – he is not to everybody’s liking. He is rude, grumpy and sometimes lets his facial hair grow to unacceptable proportions before he can find the will power to do something about it. But dammit, he does not get the recognition (or awards) he deserves for what he has to put up with by being a Werewolf/Hale pack beta/Stilinski Horde Piece/Stiles’s partner/John’s son-in-law/Laura’s brother/Tom’s uncle. </p><p>Really, he doesn’t think he is asking for a lot considering he has to put up with a child trapped in the body of a fully grown man who also doubles up as a teenage dragon – with twice as much attitude - that has a habit of kidnapping (or babysitting according to said dragon) his nephew.</p><p>Just maybe a thank you or a small statue erected in his honour. Nothing much.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The cabin was quiet and Stiles was meant to be home. This was enough in itself to set Derek’s nerves on edge. In the years since he and Stiles decided to become proper people and co-habit the same space, Derek had learned nothing good ever came from silence.

He distinctly remembers the exact moment when he came to this realisation: the day Scott and Stiles tried to jump him when he came in from town after delivering his latest work to a customer. Scott was determined to prove that he was stronger than Derek after the last pack/horde night where Derek had handed him his ass during their latest quest to see who the greatest wrestler of all time was. Stiles was determined to prove that he could make Derek scream like a little girl.

Both ended up being thrown through the closest window before Derek realised who he has dealing with.

Stiles slept at John’s that night.

The result of that, and other instances which played out the same way (Stiles doing something stupid leading to him sleeping at his dad’s house after Derek kicked him out), meant that Derek knew silence = bad.

His prophesy came true when his phone rang, Laura’s name flashing on the screen.

The wolf sighed to himself - if he didn’t answer she would just come round to the cabin and then she would yell at him and touch things. Things which she knew were horde pieces. Then Stiles would have a tantrum and Derek just cannot deal with this shit today. He hoped, as he answered the call, that the two situations were not connected.

“Your stupid dragon has taken my stupid son again!”

Dammit Stiles.

“Ok 1. Pretty sure you shouldn’t call your own child stupid. 2. Why is he my dragon when he does something bad but yours when he sometimes does something good and 3. I’m not too sure Tom is totally innocent when this happens.”

Derek isn’t afraid to admit that the slight pause on the other end of the line made him consider the fact that Laura may actually kill him for real this time. “…Are you calling my son a felon?”

“No Laura. I’m saying that my nephew is 6 years old, he loves his dragon uncle more than food at this point of his life and can walk. Do the math.”

He is sure he heard Jordan in the background trying to placate his wife but Laura, as per usual, ignored everyone when she felt like Derek was being an idiot. “And whose fault is that?!”

Derek exhaled in frustration as he held his head in one hand. This was not an unusual situation nor argument.

“Fine, I accept full responsibility for the fact Tom can walk, has lived to the old age he has and is naturally going to be curious about things. I cannot believe how much of a shitty uncle I have been. I will go and rescue him from the evil dragon who might burn him to death or stand by as his horde collapses on top of the small boy. Such is the level of danger he is in.”

Derek hung up before Laura could get her retort in, steeling himself for the quick journey to the horde hill.

 

All he wanted to do was to come home, have a bath and nap on the couch.

That’s all.

Derek never gets what he wants.

 

* * *

 

 

“You can’t keep doing this Stiles. He is not yours to keep.”

A grumble and a petulant huff was the response he received as the dragon curled itself around the small para under discussion, blocking him from Derek’s view.

The adult wolf threw his hands up in frustration. This, also, was not an unusual occurrence anymore. “Don’t give me that attitude, you can’t keep him down here. He needs to be home, in the pack house. It isn’t good for him to be down here all the time and as much as I like to make fun of Laura, she does worry when you two do stuff like this.”

He did not appreciate the snort and side eye the dragon gave him. Honestly, Derek doesn’t remember being this bad as a teenager. Saying that, most of his teenage years were spent playing basketball and falling in love with the woman who would then go on to murder his whole family so maybe he should be happy that Stiles’s version of teenage rebellion came in the form of taking children from their homes to hide them in his cave. Or one child. Whatever. Semantics.

“Tom. Time to go home. Say bye to Stiles.”

Hearing two sets of groans, he watched as the small, light-brown haired boy climbed over the cocooned wall that was Stiles before making his way over to Derek. To make double sure the boy wouldn’t decide to ignore his wolf uncle and try to run back to his dragon uncle, Derek picked him up and held him on his hip as he spoke to his partner.

“When you are finished with your teenage angst, dinner is ready. If you’re not back by the time I’m back, you’re staying at Scott’s tonight.”

Derek smirked to himself as Stiles gave a vibrating groan. Seems dragon Stiles is just as enthusiastic at staying at his best friend’s home just as much as human Stiles did. At least he got a bed at his dad’s, all he got at Scott’s was a couch which doubled up as a torture device and some ramen noodles.

Turning around Derek started to walk towards the stairs leading back to ground surface, ignoring the little flame Tom shot out of his hand as a goodbye to Stiles and the answering flame back Stiles sent.

Seems fitting that Derek would be surrounded by fire-producing paras.

Because life hated him like that.

 

* * *

 

 

“I swear down, this time he followed me. I didn’t take him. I wouldn’t do that.”

It seems like Stiles was doing his selective memory thing again, Derek determined as he closed the door to the cabin. His partner often forgot that yes, he would do that and yes, he did do that until Tom was able to walk and come down to the horde chambers under his own doing. Everybody knew by the time Tom turned one that if he wasn’t with either Laura, Jordan or Derek, Dragon Stiles had decided to take the boy and look after him without telling anyone whenever he felt like it – which was about three times a week.

The best one was when he magic'd himself to Hawaii and brought Tom back to Beacon Hills while leaving his parents at the resort during their first family holiday when Tom was 2 and a half. Laura was not amused, Jordan saw the funny side after a lot of alcohol to recover from the panic brought about by thinking somebody had stolen his son and was trying to sell him on the black market.

And this was before the dragon had decided to go all emo on everyone and decided that the small wolf para was the only one who understood him.

Derek knew this for a fact. Stiles had told him during an argument.

He blanked Stiles as he made his way to the bathroom and stripped off his clothes, exhaling a relieved sigh as the hot water of the shower started to loosen his muscles. If he was going to be ignored by Dragon Stiles, he would ignore Human Stiles. Yes it was childish but Derek was a childish person deep down.

The ignoring became difficult when a pair of arms wrapped themselves around his waist, Stiles’s head pressing in-between his shoulder blades.

“I’m sorry. I know I have nobody to blame but myself. I just like hanging out with him, that’s all. I can have a word with him tomorrow about it.”

Guilt arouse within the wolf as he clasped Stiles hands within one of his own. “It’s fine. Laura just panics. It’s a wolf pack thing.”

“….sorry my dragon is being a dick to you.”

“It’s fine.”

It really wasn’t. Not that Derek would tell the other man that. In actuality, it sucked. The dragon was acting out and ignoring everyone - mostly Derek and, as much as he loathe to admit it, that was hard for him to get his head around. He was still Stiles’s horde piece (though secretly Derek is 99% sure he had been replaced by his nephew and Stiles didn’t have the heart to break it to him) but the dragon, at times, acted like Derek didn’t really exist or wasn’t worth the effort.

Stiles tried to argue that because Derek was in a safe environment with a protective pack and town, the dragon didn’t need to be as shielding as he had at the beginning or that just because he was being a typical teenager didn’t mean the feelings towards the wolf had changed.

Derek just thought it was a crock of shit and that he didn’t want his baby dragon growing up. Sometimes it sucked being with a para who had different ages between his two half’s.

Stiles could get fucked if he thought they were going to have children after this.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah....sorry?

Since the emo-boy dragon had decided that it couldn't live its life without Derek (despite the fact that it can quite easily be argued now that teenage Stiles has apparently decided it can, in fact, live without Derek) life had changed for the elder wolf. Especially in Beacon Hills itself. Once the town villain, Derek was now greeted with smiles, waves and baskets of protection amulets which Derek had argued, countless times, weren't required as a dragon is protection enough.

  
It set him on edge and he didn't like it. Yes, he appreciated that people no longer threw stones at him or keyed his car but it didn't mean he wanted to be sociable with people. For gods sake, he was even an honorary member of the Beacon Hills Siren Cross-Stitching Social Club.

  
(They met every Tuesday, 5 till 7. Derek initially tried to get out of it but Valarie's Bear Claws were to die for. Apparently cross-stitching was good for the soul and tamed murderous thoughts. Derek disagreed; he was pretty murderous when he miscounted and fucked up the pattern of his Celtic emerald cross. Stiles wanted to display it in the living room. Derek told him no. The was the first time Stiles kicked Derek out and made him sleep at Scott's).

  
He knew it was fucked up that he was weary of people being nice to him. This therapist said he had spent so long being suspicious of peoples motives that he is unable to break out of that psyche until he comes to terms with the abuse he has been through. Derek thought that the Erlking therapist was charging far too much to tell him something that was fucking common sense.

  
Anyway, the town had done a 180o on their opinion of Derek, which is why Derek was surprised when he walked out of the store of find his car windscreen smashed in. He knows it made him a bad person that he was happy when he saw it was collateral damage of a fight between a group of Selkies and a group of Redcaps rather then a personal attack - unusual in itself by how the two ground generally had nothing to do with each other. Knowing he would be in a world of pain and whining if he tried to interfere, he turned away from chaos and tried to make his way to the Reaper Cafe, only to be stopped as he collided with a body which, to his surprise, sent him flying into the pavement.

  
"Sorry. Jesus, I'm so sorry. You OK man?"

  
Derek shook his head, trying to clear the ringing from when his head bounced off of the pavement. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little winded." He panted as he accepted the mans had and hefted himself onto his feet.

  
"Sorry, I wasn't paying attention. Are you sure you are OK?"

  
Derek rolled his shoulders, feeling his brain correct itself. "Yeah I'm fine. Though not used to people being able to plant me on my ass. Laura can never find out about this..." Derek mumbled the last part to himself, though not quiet enough if the chuckle from the other man was any indication.

  
The man who was now rubbing the back of his neck, head slightly hung with an embarrassed smile on his face "Yeah...a chimera would do that."

  
Derek couldn't help the sharp inhale.

  
Certain Para's had a reputation. Chimera's were one whose reputation was not a good one. Not in the slightest.

  
He couldn't help but cringe when the Chimera's head dropped lower. "Yeah...I get that quite alot".

  
Derek knew that once the town got wind of this, the guys life was going to get a lot more complicated. Part of him, the teenager who had lost everything and was turned away from his community with taunts of 'tainted' and 'murderer', couldn't help but sympathise. Quite a lot as it turned out.

  
"Its fine. Don't worry about it. If anything my sister and partner would find it amusing so lets keep this on the down low"

  
The chimera chuckled, raising his eyes up to Derek's face, a shy smile across his features. "Listen, I just moved here a few days ago so I'm not sure where everything is but I'm dying for some coffee. Anywhere good?"

  
Derek pointed down the street "Reaper's is good. I'm heading down there the now if you want to join?" Internally a voice praised Derek for being a grown boy, making friends all by himself. Derek ignored the fact that the voice sounded suspiciously like Stiles.

  
The Para's smile grew. "Yeah, I would if thats OK?"

  
"No problem. I'm Derek, by the way. You?"

  
Holding out his hand for Derek to take, the Para introduced himself. "Theo."

  
  


* * *

  
  
Derek had panicked that Stiles would be worried by how long he had been in town for. He realised quite quickly that this was a stupid thing to do as Stiles, currently in dragon form, quite clearly couldn't give two fucks about where he had been and was too busy ignoring the shouting Alpha werewolf as he watched Tom dangle off of his wing as he raised and lowed the boy in the air.

  
"Seriously?! From playgroup? Are you taking the actual piss Stiles!?"

  
Derek sighed as he walked into the large horde room. "Whats he done now?"

  
Laura turned to her brother, a look of rage on her face. "YOUR stupid boyfriend stole MY son from playgroup. The kids are terrified. The other moms have thrown me off of the play committee. I was going to make cupcakes Derek. Sparkly cupcakes."

  
Derek knew he should keep his mouth shut. However it was well established that Derek's survival skills came between those inhibited by a goldfish and a twig. "You can always make cupcakes for the pack. And are you sure the kid didn't just walk off by himself? Wouldn't be the first time and lets face it, I love him but kid has a penchant for making stupid life decisions..."

  
"No Derek" Laura sighed as she pressed her fingers into her forehead. "No he did not just walk off. The dragon flew over to him and snatched him up." She turned to Stiles "MY KID IS NOT A PRINCESS THAT NEEDS SAVING STILES. HE NEEDS TO SPEND TIME WITH OTHER PEOPLE OTHER THEN YOU! YOU ARE HINDERING HIS SOCIAL SKILLS! HE IS GOING TO GROW UP LIKE DEREK FOR GODS SAKE, DO YOU REALLY WANT THAT!?!"

  
Stiles just snorted in response. Apparently Stiles' survival skills were on par with Derek's.

  
Laura flapped her hand in his direction, turning to Derek with an exasperated look. "And where were you when all this was happening?"

  
Its sweet that she still thinks that he can control Stiles. Really.

  
"Out getting coffee then taking the car to the repair shop. Windscreen got smashed in and no, it wasn't because it was my car for once." Derek pre-empted the question before Laura got a single word out. He was a bit disappointed that Stiles seemed to take no interest in his afternoon.

  
He could at least fake concern that he was potentially targeted (even though he really wasn't. Whatever).

  
"So you sat at the coffee shop, by yourself, for the afternoon. Wow, what an exciting life you lead Der. Puts mine to shame."

  
OK, Derek really didn't appreciate the snort of laughter from his partner at Laura's words. He was far too good for this shit.

  
"Wasn't by myself. A new guy moved to town and he was asking me about Beacon." HA. Take that Laura. Derek could totally be sociable.

  
"Oh yeah. Heard someone had moved into a preserve cottage. What is he?"

  
Shit.

  
Derek had two options: tell Laura the truth and get yelled at or lie to Laura only to be killed when she found out the truth and strangled him. she had done it before and, for a midget, she was plenty strong.

  
"Erm...well...you see, about that..."

  
Laura flashed her eyes as she stalked up to the other wolf "Derek. What is he?"

  
"A Chimera." Both the wolf and the dragon froze.

  
Laura cleared her throat as she glanced around the horde room. "The acoustics in here are shocking. I'm sure I heard you say a Chimera but I know you didn't because I know that, despite how many times I accidentally dropped you on your head when you were a baby, you aren't stupid enough to have coffee with a Chimera."

  
Derek felt his temper rise, as it always did when he was treated like a particularly dim witted child. "OK we both know that you dropping me wasn't an accident but a deliberate attempt aT murder and yes, I said a Chimera."  
The temper grew even more when Stiles has the audacity to growl at him. "You..." Derek pointed to the smoking dragon "...can shut up. You don't get to ignore me for months then pretend to care. Your opinion is invalid in this so sit down and play with your rocks with your new horde piece."

  
In the time he had been yelling hat Stiles, Laura had walked up to him and grasped his hand. "Derek, come on, you cant possibly think this is a good idea..."

  
He yanked his hand out of his sisters grasp. "Maybe I think that I know what its like to be hated because of something you cant control or because of something that isn't your fault. You ever think we should hear him out before we decide to vilify him? My life could have been a whole lot easier if somebody did that for me? and god forbid I try to have a friend outside the two of you!"

  
"Derek, thats different..."

  
"Why?" Derek questioned. "Why is it different? People judged me for my actions just how people are judging him for his nature." He threw his hands up in the air. "I'm done with this conversation."

  
Derek turned on his heal, offering no response to Laura's "Where the hell are you going?"

  
He was off to friend the shit out of Chimera.


	3. Chapter 3

"I don't want to hear it Stiles."

  
Derek didn't even raise his head from his work bench as he heard the other man enter the room.

  
"About what? The chimera or the horde piece jibe because we both know I can rant about both of them"

  
"Both"

  
With the tenacity that Derek had come to expect from the dragon, Stiles simply hefted himself on top of the workbench, shuffling over until his butt was parked on top of the sketches that Derek had, until about 3 seconds ago, been working on.

  
"I don't really like that you have decided to make a chimera your new BFF but that is besides the point. I know fine well that because we have said we don't want you to do it, you are going to do it because you are a man child like that. But I wont have you thinking that you have been replaced or that you aren't important to me anymore."

  
"I know I'm important. I know that." Derek said, keeping his eyes directed at his lap.

  
"Then why say it? Are you jealous of Tom?"

  
Derek snorted as he pushed himself away from the work bench and stalked over to the other side of the room "I'm not jealous of a 6 year old Stiles, be serious."

  
Stiles hopped of of the table but made no further attempt to move closer. "Then what is it?"

  
Derek sighed as he looked up to the heavens for guidance. Either guidance or in the hope he would be struck by lightening so he didn't have to have this conversation.

  
"I just....sometimes get the feeling that he doesn't even like me anymore. And thats hard."

  
Stiles rolled his eyes as he walked up to the wolf and wrapped his arms around him, Derek returning the action (albeit reluctantly).

  
"You ever think that its because he cares?" Stiles held on as Derek tried to pull away from his grip. "The dragon side is just getting stronger. I know that I cant hurt Tom because, hello, Phoenix. I can hurt you though. But I'm sorry. I will try to reign it in."

  
Derek sighed as he fell into the embrace. "Its fine. Just something we have to wait out I guess."

  
Stiles paused. "So...this Chimera..."

  
Derek managed to pull away this time. "Can it, Stilinski."

  
"I'm just saying. I ain't afraid to light his butt on fire if he is a dick. I will do it. I have total control of my flame now."

  
He doesn't. He really, really doesn't. The scorched remains of their old car is evident of that after Stiles and Jordan decided to have a flame off during a pack night a couple of months ago.

 

* * *

  
  
OK so when he said he would friend the shit out of the Chimera, he may have lied. Well, not lied but...Derek didn't really know what it was he needed to do. To be a friend. To make a friend. Maybe he did, once, when he had a pack and a family. That talent was long gone.

  
Laura was his sister and Stiles was his...dragon partner person. The pack either came from Laura's connections or Stiles'. Derek knew, deep down, that they weren't HIS friends.

  
Fortunately for him, Theo was not the social spaz that the wolf was. Though he did have to wonder how the guy figured out where he lived.

  
"Sorry for just showing up. I was asking about the town and a band of leprechaun's pointed me up this way. Yeah, I realise I may be coming across like a creep but I'm actually here for a reason. I need some furniture for the house and I was told you were the best person to come to?"

  
Stupid Laura for making him paranoid.

  
"Yeah, sure" Derek held our a hand to direct Theo towards the garage and also, his work shop. "What kind of things are you looking for?" he asked as he opened the door to let the other man inside.

  
"Oh you know, draws, tables. Things like that." Theo answered as he walked around the room.  

  
Derek snorted. "Usually people would hit up Pottery Barn for stuff like that."

  
Theo turned away from a picture frame to look at Derek. "I like one of a kind things. Unique."

  
"Well, you're in the right place. Everything here is hand made. No two pieces are alike."

  
Theo sent him a sunny smile as he took a seat on one of the benches at his work desk. "So, how does a werewolf get into woodwork?"

  
"My Dad taught me. Was something of a hobby which took when I was older. What about you?"

  
"I am a collector. I specialize in finding rare and unique things for my clients."

  
Derek's eyebrows rose. "A collector? How does someone get into that?"

  
Theo shrugged his shoulders. "I'm good at finding things. Kinda just fell into it and when all people care about what you can do for them, they don't care about your nature."

  
Derek walked over to the workshop fridge, pulling out two beers as he handed one to Theo before taking a seat on the other bench on the opposite side of the table.

  
"Trust me. I know what you mean. The anonymity of doing this in the beginning was the only reason I sold anything."

  
Theo sighed as he peeled the label from the bottle, never taking his eyes off of the wolf as he spoke softly "I guess we have more in common then we thought"

  
"Guess we do"  
  


 

* * *

  
  
Derek liked this. This whole 'friends' business. He had lost track of time (and volume of beer drank) as he and Theo spent most of the afternoon in his workshop. He isn't even sure what they were talking about, all he knew was that he couldn't remember the last time he had laughed as hard  as he had done that afternoon (Thats a lie. Last time he laughed this hard was when Stiles got stuck up the chimney on Christmas Eve.)

  
Theo was in the middle if telling him about the one time he had to track down a grimoire for a Balisk when the door to the workshop burst open and a human dragon, werewolf and baby Phoenix burst through the door - armed with weapons such as a shoe, a empty cardboard box and a teddy that was given to Tom on his third birthday.

  
Derek sighed as he turned away from the three intruders. "Excuse them. I'm not sure anymore about which one is the bad influence on the other."

  
Luckily, rather then acting like a sane person, making his excuses to leave and never returning, Theo chuckled as he rose to greet the three newcomers.

  
"Ignore Derek, his manners seemed to have gone to the wolves. I'm Theo." he introduced himself, receiving an equally sunny greeting from Scott and...well, a not so stellar greeting from Stiles and Tom.

  
"So, how long you been in town?" Scott asked, oblivious to the matching set of daggers the two fire Para's were throwing at the Chimera.

  
"A few days. Not long but it seems nice enough. I mean, well, Derek's the only person I have properly spoken to and he's been real nice..."

  
Derek, Theo and Scott all turned to face Stiles at the snort of laughter he tried, and failed, to hide.

  
"Dude!" Scott exclaimed while Derek palmed his face into his hands.

  
"Sorry....just....yeah" Stiles trailed off as he picked up Tom to rest on his hip. Derek glanced up to see Theo with his brow scrunched up, seeming to study Stiles before he turned around to face Derek, his face softening.

  
"We should probably do what I came here to do. If I just point out the things I want, you OK to make a list then we can sort out the final details and payment after?"

  
Derek nodded, grabbing a pad and pen but not before sending a glare towards the dragon, who paid no attention while he looked like he has trying to set the back of Theo's head on fire.

  
If that wasn't bad enough, Stiles then proceeded to follow the two of them about while Theo listed off the pieces he wanted until even Scott took pity on the wolf and dragged out the dragon by the tip of his ear.

  
Theo exhaled as the door slammed shut behind the complaining dragon. "So....thats the infamous Beacon Hills dragon?"

  
Derek couldn't help but tense. Everyone always wanted to talk to him about Stiles. After a while, it did get pretty annoying. "Yep, thats him."

  
"Huh" Theo said as he turned back to Derek. "So anyway, do you deliver?"  
  


 

* * *

  
  
Derek sighed as he closed the door to the cabin behind him, resting his forehead against the wood. Derek could hear that Stiles was the only one in the room, taking a guess that Scott has wisely taken his nephew and returned him back to his Mom.

  
Turning to press his back against the door, his eyes landed on Stiles, who had turned one of the one-seat sofas around so he could sit and glare at the door (and Derek) with his hands crossed over his chest.

  
Derek was surprised. The sofa was 'totally too heavy for me to move Derek. I better leave it to you and Scotty while I help Dad unpack the pillows from the van'. Fucking liar.

  
"I don't like him."

  
Derek rolled his eyes as he pushed himself off of the door and walked into the living room to stand in front of his partner. "You don't like anyone who talks to me for longer then 5 seconds."

  
Stiles snorted from his throne of judgment. "Thats not the point. I don't like him. I don't like the way he looks at you."

  
"Again, you don't like anyone looking at me."

  
"He  has beady eyes. The eyes of evil. Tom doesn't like him and Tom is a fantastic judge of character."

  
"Stiles..." Derek crouched in front of the dragon, placing his hand on top of his knee. "...yesterday Tom named a rock 'Fred' and carried him around as his new best friend and cried when Jordan told him Fred wasn't actually a person. His judge of character is awful."

  
Stiles sighed as he sank back into the sofa, hands twisting together. "I just...I don't have a good feeling about this."

  
Derek rose to his full height. "Look its probably just the dragon side being a hormonal teenager thats throwing everything out of wack..."

  
Stiles vehemently shook his head. "No, no it isn't that. Derek, it feels...cold. And dark. Like the air in town is ash."

  
Without warning Stiles reached up to yank the wolf down on top of him, Derek landing with an exhale as spindly arms wrapped tightly around his waist. Stiles was strong despite public appearance, stronger then the whole pack put together, a fact reminded by how Derek thought his partner may be legitimately trying to break his ribs.

  
"You really that worried?"

  
Derek felt, rather then saw, Stiles release a breath of frustration, the air tickling the back of his neck. "I don't know. I really don't. I just...Something isn't right and I don't know what it is. I don't know if its the Chimera or if its something else."

  
Derek lent back into Stiles' embrace, trying to work to loosen the grip the dragon had around him.

  
"If - and I'm only saying if - something is going on, we will figure it out. You, me and the pack..." Derek hesitated before continuing "...You can protect us better then anyone. We all know that. I need you to protect Tom. For me. For us."

  
Derek cant even think about anything happening to his nephew. He just cant.

  
Stiles squeezed tighter. "Why do you think he is always in my horde chamber?"


	4. Chapter 4

The lake was soothing. It was the main reason as to why Derek picked his spot for his home. The smoothness of the still water made something in him settle, gave him peace that he thought he had lost when his family died. They were far enough away from the town that the forest was blanketed in darkness, the only light left to reflect was that of the light from the house and from the crescent moon which hung low in the sky. Resting his forearms along the veranda top, Derek couldn't help but take in the view. Even after all the years that they had lived here, it never got old. He honestly thought that it never would.

  
Thats what made him worried about what Stiles had divulged. That there was something which was making Stiles....a dragon for crying out loud....feel uneasy.

  
He didn't believe it was Theo. A chimera versus a dragon? There was no contest, not even against a fledgling dragon like Stiles. He wasn't sure if he fully bought that there was something going on but Derek knew, if by a small chance that Stiles was right, the pack and Beacon Hills were seriously in trouble.

  
Or it could be just like the time where Stiles was adamant that Scott and Kira's new home was haunted by the ghosts from the civil war but was actually haunted by raccoon. Or the time where he thought his dad has been poisoned but it was trapped wind.

  
Sometimes Stiles wasn't as omnipotent as he led everyone to believe.

  
However sometimes he really, really, was.  
  


* * *

  
To say Stiles' dragon form was huge was a slight understatement. When they first met, he was the size of a pony and now he cleared a two storey house. Just as human Stiles hit a growth spurt, so did his other half.  
Still didn't detract from the fact that he couldn't fly properly. In the space of three years Stiles had graduated from waddling to a half hovering, half hopping mode of transport. In all honesty, it reminded Derek of a kangaroo - though he kept that thought to himself. Stiles was surprisingly sensitive about his incapability to fly for more then 5 seconds at any one go.

  
At least he had John to share his amusement with as they watched the latest attempt to get the dragon to fly. Needless to say, Scott and Stiles were failing quite miserably.

  
"Ahh" John sighed as he sank into one of the veranda deck chairs next to Derek, overlooking the lake and the stomping dragon on the other side of the water as he had another tantrum, Scott doing all he could to avoid a swishing tail. "You have no idea how much I needed this.."

  
Derek scoffed. "To watch your son crash land into a tree for the fifth time today?" Now that his faux-father-in-law had taken a seat, Derek could see the dark circles around his eyes. "You OK?" Derek asked. John my not be his Dad, but he was as good as.

  
John nodded as he took a sip of his coffee. "Yeah. It's just been a bit hectic at the station."

  
Weird. Since Stiles came to town and word spread about the incident with John, the crime rate had dropped enough to the point where both Laura and Jordan were seriously considering a career switch.

  
"How do you mean? Stiles hasn't said anything." Derek inquired as he lent closer towards the man.

  
"Its nothing major, a few fights and complaints. Nothing to worry about."

  
Derek frowned as he thought back to the fight with the Selkies and Redcaps. "Is it just para's? That are acting weird?" he asked, to which John answered with a shrug.

  
"My first ever call out here was between Mrs O'Flannery and her neighbour about which one of them could claim ownership of a garden gnome. They now have shared custody of the thing. This town has always been weird..."

  
John was interrupted by a rumble of a truck as it made its way up the dirt path, Derek instantly recognising it at Theo's. With a quick nod to John, Derek rose from his seat and made his way to the now stationary vehicle. He pointedly ignored the dragon who had stopped his game of 'chase the squirrel' to glare at the newcomer.

  
"Hey, whats up?" Derek asked as Theo heaved himself out of the truck.

  
"Not much, I had a free day and I thought I would stop by...unless you are busy?" he asked as he peered around Derek's shoulder, pointedly ignoring the baritone growl which was vibrating around the lake clearing.

  
"Na, its cool." Derek lead the way and made the introductions between John and Theo, giving John credit when the man remained passive when Theo told him what he was. Stiles...not so much. The dragon had made his way over from the other side of the lake and had settled himself in front of the house, never taking his eyes off of the Chimera. Kind of like a disgruntled dog.

  
Theo, though, remained unperplexed as he settled into the conversation with John and Scott. As per usual Derek spoke little in these kind of social gatherings, only forcing himself to speak when Theo directed a question at him (which, to be honest, was quite a lot of the time). The rhythm of conversation was only broken when John's work phone rang, as the elder man excused himself and took the call from inside the house. Nobody thought anything of it until a few minutes later when John stormed out, throwing a pile of clothes at his, still grumbling, son.

  
"Get changed. We need to go. Now." John stared in exacerbation as Stiles side-eyed Theo, not even making an attempt to change. "STILES! I'm not kidding. Something is going on at the hospital and we need to leave."

  
Stiles had transformed before John had finished speaking, for once moving smoothly as he transitioned out of his shift then into his clothes as he sprinted to the car where John was already waiting, yelling over his shoulder "Scotty, you know what to do."

  
With a nod of his head, Scott rose and sprinted down the drive, following Roscoe in a blaze of dust, leaving a stunned Were and Chimera in their wake.

* * *

Only the pack has ever been into the cabin, Derek realised once he had invited Theo into his home. He could see the intrigue in the Chimera's eyes as he looked around. To the unseeing eye, the house looked like a bomb had hit it. To Derek, everything was where it was meant to be to show off the contents of the house and, also, Stiles' horde collection.

"So I take it that this is all Stiles's stuff?" Theo asked as he eyed up a "Tootin Tushie" Kris Kringle which a look of distaste. If Derek hasn't held the ornament in such contempt himself, he would almost be offended on behalf of Stiles.

  
"How can you tell?" Derek chuckled as he chucked a bottle of water over to the other man, who shrugged in answer.

  
"Just don't see alot of you in here..."

  
"Don't really have alot to add."

  
Theo nodded, as if he understood. "Hey, where did Scott shoot of to so quick? Has he gone down to the hospital as well? Thought he was a vet though..."

  
Derek sat down on the couch, gesturing to the opposite side for Theo."Probably off to the pack house to look after Tom....my nephew" Derek answered at Theo's questioning eyebrow raise.

  
"....your boyfriend sent his friend to protect your nephew and not stay with you?" Theo questioned

  
"Toms parents are both on the force. Scott's the easiest to call on and Stiles is stupidly protective of Tom. Probably more protective of him then his whole Horde. Honestly wouldn't put it past him to move Tom in here permanently so he can have all his horde together. Suppose if he moved Tom in here, he could claim to spend more time with his one and only 'Horde Piece'."

  
While part of him was proud beyond words to be a Dragons Horde Piece, sometimes it royally fucked him off when that was all he was known as.

  
Theo's eyes widened in surprise "I didn't know a horde piece could be a person"

  
Derek snorted as Theo fell backward into the couch. "Yeah, came as a shock to everyone"

  
"I...just...how does that work?"

  
"Just like it would a normal Horde Piece. Don't get me wrong, Stiles goes mental if somebody even breathes a word against the Hale pack but other then that, I dunno, its just normal now."

  
Theo smiled to himself. "This town is just full of surprises."

* * *

Derek could tell something was wrong as soon as Stiles closed the door behind him. Usually the Dragon had boundless energy that not even toddlers could keep up with him. Instead he slumped through the house, making his way into the living room before throwing himself on top of Derek and curling into him.

  
"What happened?" Derek asked softly as Stiles sniffled into his chest.

  
"Oni."

  
Derek's brow scrunched in confusion."What?"

  
"Oni attacked the hospital. Oh god Derek, it was a bloodbath."

  
"Shit" Derek muttered under his breath, arms tightening around Stiles as he felt wetness seeping through his shirt. Focusing his senses, he could smell the pain, the fear and overwhelmingly, the metallic smell of blood. Stroking his hand up and down Stiles' back, he held him as he cried.

  
"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked, once the shaking had died down and Stiles grip in his shirt has lessened.

  
Stiles gave a deprecating snort. "No. But I know that I will drive myself insane if I don't." So Derek waited until his partner felt OK to talk.

  
"They just came out of nowhere. Ten or fifteen. Not sure. They just attacked everyone. Men, women, para, human...kids. We tried to shut them down but...nothing we did worked. We couldn't even take one down. Shit and now they are gone. What happens if they hit again? They will, you know. I can feel it. I knew something bad was going to happen..."

  
Derek interrupted, knowing the direction this speech was going. "What do you tell me when I say that the fire was my fault?"

  
"That it wasn't your fault."

  
"You know what I'm going to say to you?"

  
Stiles threw himself away from the wolf, into a stand and paced in front of him. "Thats different. You know its different. I...I'm a fucking dragon! Whats is the point of this, ALL of this if I cant stop things like this happening?!"

  
Believe it or not, this isn't the first time that Stiles had had a crisis because the reputation of being a magical, ever powerful dragon has gotten to be too much. The first few times, Derek had tried the softly-softly approach. Every time, it has resulted in a massive argument. By now, Derek had this shit locked down.

  
Crossing his arms over his chest, he fixed Stiles with a steely gaze. "Where do you get off."

  
Stiles paused mid breakdown, mouth open in surprise."Wha.."

  
"No. Seriously. Where do you get off, thinking you are better then everyone. Better then simple wolves like me, better then a Phoenix, better then your fucking Dad?"

  
"I...I don't.."

  
"Really? Sure doesn't sound like it. Big, bad Stiles. Dragon. Fucking better then all us simple para's."

  
"I'm not. I'm not better."

  
Derek snorted, turning his gaze from Stiles to look outside. If he wasn't so preoccupied with trying to placate his mate, he may have noticed the shadow in the tree line of the lake.

  
"Well apparently all is this was your fault. You obviously think you are better.."

  
"I'M NOT."

  
"Then stop blaming yourself. You are not a seer. You are not the greatest being known to humanity - despite your claims to be a better lay then Zeus - and you are not responsible. We all shoulder the blame. You told me something wasn't right and I didn't listen. We are all to blame."

  
The stand off was tense until Stiles sank down, defeated for tonight.

  
"I think I'm going mad."

  
Resting his elbows on his knees, Derek lent forward. "How do you mean?"

  
With a sigh, Stiles turned to face the window. "I keep seeing things. Not things. A man."

  
"The oni?" Derek asked as he rose to stand beside the other how shook his head.

  
"No. Something different. Something...old." With a shake of his shoulders, Stiles turned away from the window.

  
Derek knew that he had done his job successfully when Stiles fixed him with a glare, his mind taken off of the prior events.

  
"Did you let Theo touch my cashmere doily!? I can smell his stink all over the place. God Derek! Why don't you just invite him to piss all over my horde chamber..."

  
On he bright side, Stiles doesn't have the emotional capacity to be angry at two people at once - therefore if he is angry at Derek, he isn't angry at himself.

  
Even if he does have to sleep on a blow up air bed in the garage.

 


	5. Chapter 5

The whole pack were at Laura's house a few days later. Like Stiles, Laura and Jordan also needed a few days to decompress and heal. The event at the hospital affected everyone and had a knock on effect on the town. What was once a bright, vibrant town was now cold and grey.

On the precipice of chaos.

"I don’t understand" Kira spoke up "This isn’t like the Oni."

"The Oni are evil, what part of this is surprising?" Jackson asked from his seat beside Derek, Tom squeezed in between the two men.

Lydia intercepted. "Oni is derived from hidden. They are evil but are not so...forceful about it. Attacking a hospital like they did just doesn’t ring right."

"So why?"

"Who knows?" Scott said, trailing off in thought. Thankfully, Melissa was ok but it still hit a little too close to Scott for comfort.

Laura sighed in exasperation. "There must be something. Derek, the Chimera..."

"Na. As much as I can’t stand the man" Stiles was never letting this go. "He was at ours for most of the afternoon. He wouldn’t have been able to organise something like that then leave it to chance just so he could come and touch my things."

"He touched one thing..." Derek tried to argue.

"He touched you. You count as my things. Shut up." Usually, Derek would have argued the last point but, as the man’s iris's has taken on a reptilian shape, he was going to go with self-preservation for now.

He would wait until tonight. Derek Andrew Hale belonged to nobody but himself despite what the overgrown newt thought.

Jordan cleared his throat. "Moving on from the weekly Stilinski-Hale domestic, there must be something we are missing. Has anyone else noticed anything strange, anything potentially connected to all this?"

Stiles cleared his throat, a sheepish look on his face. "The air, the town, feels different. I don’t know what it is but it just seems to bounce. I know that is a beyond horrible description but something has changed. Something fundamental."

"To me it feels like death." Lydia whispered. "Every breath tastes like death and ash."

Laura stood, a determined look on her face. "So at the moment the town smells like a Wraith's dinner party, we have sea-goats vs sylphs and yesterday I had to comfort a New Jersey Devil after he got into a war of words with an Imp. A fucking Imp. I have an archangel couple going through a divorce and arguing about who retains custody of a Virgin Mary bobble head. Beacon Hills has gone mental.

"Well when you put it like that....doesn’t sound so bad?" Scott suggested.

"That doesn’t include the Oni attacking the hospital and two dead Golems. We have had to put down a rabid Cerberus and a heard of Unicorns were slaughtered towards the edge of the preserve. Make no mistake, we are in the shit and we need to figure out what the fuck is going on."

The silence echoed through the house.

"I keep having nightmares." Stiles whispered.

"I'm sure that it isn’t anything major"

"No" Stiles interrupted Lydia. "No. I know the difference. I know the difference between a normal nightmare and when it is something else. Every night I dream of blood, fire and ash. I see war. I see death. I see fucking bloody bandages and chess pieces tarred in grey. Every night. Don’t tell me it’s nothing because it is. I know it doesn’t make sense but I know it’s something."

"Why didn’t you say anything?" Derek asked, rising to stand and walk over to his partner. "You never said anything."

"Later. Please." The wolf held his hands up, a form of surrender.

"I dream of death. Just death." Lydia said, face as pale as a zombie.

Jordon rose from his seat, marching towards the door. "So we go the seer's, see if they can see anything..."

"We tried. They can’t see anything. Not even the Fates. All they see is black." said Kira.

 

* * *

 

"You should have told me." Derek explained as he and Stiles walked down into the Horde chambers. Stiles was still shaken up and being around his Horde was the only thing which would set him somewhat at ease.

"I know." Stiles said as he led the way, firing up the lanterns as he passed.

"So why didn’t you?" The wolf asked as they entered the main room, watching as Stiles threw himself onto the pile of rubies and gold.

The dragon paused from his attempt to burrow himself in to a nest of doubloons. "Shift for me?"

Narrowing his eyes, Derek started to strip. He was not losing any more shirts because of an ill-thought out shift. Stiles liked the wolf - the actual wolf - when he was upset. Stiles said the animal gave him comfort, Derek thought it was because Stiles liked to treat him as an over-grown teddy bear.

He was so whipped it was embarrassing.

Once the change had happened, Derek climbed across the gold and settled down beside Stiles with an exaggerated huff. One good thing about his shift? Totally valid excuse to not talk.

"Do you know what I see when I look at you?" Oh god. _Feelings_. "I see my Horde Piece. My happy Horde Piece. I didn’t think I would really see the day when you would be this settled and it makes me so proud that I had a little part to play in that. You make me so fuckin proud. And I know if I told you, that frown, wrinkle on your forehead would come back and I don’t like that frown. It took years to get rid of the frown."

Stiles sighed as he pulled Derek closer to him.

"I thought I could handle it. If you could handle everything that’s happened, then I can do this. But I don’t think I can. God every time I close my eyes, I see it all. I see camps. I see kids, flesh rotting and burning. I see pain and suffering and it is just so much, all the time. I don’t know the last time I slept. Even the dragon knows. Can see what I see. He knows something isn’t right."

Derek shifted to rest his head on the dragon’s chest, snout turned towards his head to give him a lick on the chin. Stiles hesitated, arm raised before softly lowering it to stroke the crown of the wolf's head.

"I would destroy the world for you. Me and the dragon both. I know things haven’t been...right. Between you and him. In all honesty, I think it’s linked to all this. It scares me that something can affect me like this."

With a huff, Derek shifted back to his human form, ignoring the pointed sides of the gems digging into his side, "You are not just powerful because you are a dragon. You are strong because you are you. Even if you were plain old human, you would still be the most powerful person in this town. Remember that. Whatever this is, it is getting the better of you because you are letting it. You fear it and that will give it power."

Stiles resumed stroking the, now human, hair. "I feel weak."

"You are many things. You are annoying, pig-headed and have the hygiene standards of troll but you aren’t weak."

A weak snort of laughter echoed throughout the room. "What do I do?"

"You share. You let me carry some of the burden and we go from there. You remember that not only are you one of - if the most - powerful para's species ever to live, you remember you are a Stilinski. Everybody knows that Stilinski's are a force of nature on their own."

Laura found the two of them the next morning in the Horde room fully shifted, the black wolf curled around the head of the onyx dragon.

 

* * *

 

  

A Werewolf, a Kanima and a Kitsune taking a stroll through Athena's wood would seem like the start of a shit joke. However this was now Derek’s life. The pack-horde had decided to patrol the woods and town while the police dealt with the ever increasing call outs they were receiving by the day. However Derek was doubtful that anything nefarious that was potentially hiding within the blessed woodland would be caught out unawares by them, as Kira was mid ramble about her Alpha boyfriend.

"...I mean every time this happens, I always say to myself 'Yukimura, you are a strong, powerful Kitsune. You can say no. You need to say no. For the sake of the house and our bank account, you must say no. You need to be strong where Scott is weak'. But I can’t say no every time he comes home with another one."

Scott, despite his True Alphaness, has a very well-known weak spot. A weak spot that, despite her protests, Kira also seems to be immune to which has resulted in their family consisting of Kira, Scott, their parents, three dogs, four cats, a cockatoo, two love birds, a sparrow hawk, two rabbits and a miniature hellhound. Anytime a neglected animal is brought in, there is an 80% chance Scott will want to adopt it, Kira will say no until Scott thrusts the helpless animal into her face where she will eventually cave. She will then invite Derek and Jackson for drinks so she can rant.

"Prada is enough for me. Even then, I could do without her but Lyd's would actually castrate me if I ever even suggested giving her up. No. We have an agreement, me and the mutt. She stays out of my way and I stay out of hers."

Jackson had no such weakness.

"You ever think of getting a dog?" Kira asked, turning towards Derek, who shook his head.

"No. It’s bad enough with us looking after Tom a few times a week. Don’t think we could actually survive if we brought something else into the house permanently. Don’t get me wrong, Stiles loves Tom as much as I do but I honestly thought he was going to set the child on fire when he accidently broke the kitchen table from Belarus..."

Jackson snorted, knowing from first hand experience what Stiles could be like when you fucked with a horde piece. Jackson hadn’t even made it out of Beacon Hills before Stiles cursed him for shaving off one of Derek’s eyebrows during a drunken dare.

Derek walked in silence, jostling when Jackson knocked his elbow into his side. "Haven’t seen you for a while. You alright?"

Derek’s brows rose in surprise, turning to Jackson and Kira, who was peering around the Kanima's shoulders. "...fine?"

"It’s true" Kira interjected. "It’s been a while since we hung out..."

"We saw each other last night."

"Pack night doesn’t count. You were doing really well with Katana training. Why you stop?"

Derek shrugged. "Dunno. Work just got busy and things got in the way."

Jackson stopped, a thoughtful gaze on his face. "You know how we thought that whatever has gotten to the town and made everyone schitzo, hasn’t hit us?"

"Yeah..." Kira answered, coming to stand between Derek and Jackson.

"I’m not so sure we got away so scott free, you know?"

"I don’t get it..."

"Look" Jackson said, holding his hands up." I’m not afraid to admit that, thinking back on it, shit has come up recently that normally I wouldn’t give two fucks about..."

"Such as..." Derek prompted.

The Kanima hesitated slightly. "I love Lydia. She is the best thing to happen to me. But lately, I’m worried that she will find someone better. That she'll...That she will just pack her bags and go. And this isn’t something that has wound me up before. I know I’m a catch and I know that me and Lyds? If we can survive what we did as high school, we can survive anything so it doesn’t really make sense why this is coming up now. This emotional talk makes me want to barf but I need to know if anyone else is feeling the same or if it is me going mad..."

"It’s not you. It really isn’t you." Kira stepped up. "I....Well, it’s not the same as you Jacks. But thinking about what you said and what has been going on recently from a totally rational stand point, I think your right. I mean, I've been thinking a lot about things. Well, not things. Allison things."

Derek winced. Everyone in the pack knew about the doomed, teenage love affair between Allison Argent and Scott McCall. The pack knew how they met at school, fell in love, fell out of love, and then back in love. The pack also knew how Allison died while on hunter duty when Scott was seventeen. He met Kira a few years after and they had been inseparable ever since. From what Derek heard, Kira had been nothing but respectful of Allison’s memory, content to share a part of her partners heart with a ghost. At least, he thought she was content.

"You’re not...you and Scott aren’t breaking up are you?!" Jackson yelled, earning him a harsh elbow to the ribs from Derek. Jackson was an enigma. He hated people but hated change more. The thought of the pack couples splitting up? Kinda pushed him over the edge. Must be the whole adoption thing. Jackson was weird.

"Don’t be stupid. No. We could never spilt custody of the pets. No its just I've been think more about her. About her and Scott. I don’t think that I can live up to the memory of Allison 'I’m a saint' Argent and that makes me feel so bad. I keep thinking about it and its making me go crazy."

Both turned to Derek, brows raised in expectation. He sighed. _Feelings_.

"I've felt alone."

"....That’s all you got to say?" Jackson demanded. "I gave you my life story and that’s all I get?"

Derek shrugged his shoulder. "Not much else to say. Stiles doesn’t want me and my only friend is Theo."

Jackson looked at the wolf like Derek wasn’t capable of crossing the road without adult supervision.

"Only friend is the chimera?" Jackson turned to Kira, waving his hand in Derek's general vicinity. "Talk to him. I can’t with this."

Kira gently wrapped her hands around Derek's biceps. "I can’t speak for the pack but you are my friend and I thought we were yours."

Jackson didn’t put it as succinctly as Kira. "I don’t hang with you and Stilinski for Stilinski. I personally think you can do so much better than that loser."

"What we are trying to say." Kira threw a shady glance back as the sulking Kamina. "Is that you aren’t alone. We get it. The trio of Stiles, Scott and Lydia. Stiles and Lydia, don’t get me wrong, I like 'em. But I...you and Jacks are my friends, they are my pals. And that’s ok. You two have, and will, continue to listen to me rant about our zoo of a house, give me alive on what to wear for date night and let me practice my sword moves on you. So, Hale, I don’t care what you say, we are friends and that is that."

With a final nod of her head, Kira turned to continue their patrol but stopped short, hands flying grip the katanas from their sheathes attached to her back. Turning, Derek froze when he saw the line of Oni in front of them.

Crap.

Now, Kira was a beast with a pair of katanas and Derek wasn’t too bad when it comes to fighting, good enough to hold off the two Oni who he was trying to hold at bay.

Jackson though? Jackson was beyond pathetic. So instead of 3 vs 5, it was more like 2.25 vs 5.

As evidenced by the sudden sharp pain he felt across his back, turning to see Jackson behind him with his claws unsheathed with a look of shock on his face.

"Really?" Derek managed to ask before his legs gave out from underneath him. Fortunately for him, the rest of the pack picked that moment to arrive, Jackson having to smarts to fling off a quick message before he decided to paralyse his own team. Thankfully, the Oni decided a now 10 vs 5 fight, including two alphas and a shifted dragon was not worth it and fled in a gust of smoke.

The downside?

Now that the threat of the Oni had passed, Stiles could fully focus on the beta werewolf who was lying face first on the forest floor, now starting to lose the ability to talk. What Derek wanted to say was "Don’t worry, I’m fine. I totally have this under control". What came out was a garble and a line of drool. In the background he could hear Scott and Laura yelling at Jackson. Stiles, still shifted, had walked over to crouch over Derek as he worked on inhaling an ant’s nest.

Fuck it. This sucked. And now he was tired.

Derek hoped that he didn’t embarrass himself as he fell asleep/passed out on the ground, annoyed by the itch in his back which he couldn’t scratch.


End file.
